It's been a heck of a week.

First, the turkey came back from the dead. I know. It was a weekend miracle.

As we are coming home from the barrel race I see, in the field across the road from our farm, our turkey, lying on his back, spread eagle, legs flopped off to the side. He was a beautiful Red Bourbon Turkey that we had raised from a chick. I thought, Buddy, the new Boxer rescue, was probably the culprit. He slunk off behind the house as we pulled in. There were feathers Everywhere.

We had plans to go to the Pancake and Sausage Feed at the Grade School so we had to unload horses and load up kids with only a second to mourn Yosemite Sam. I had no doubts that he was dead. There are few things I refuse to do on the farm. I build fence, shovel poop, do all of the doctoring, take care of the kids, house, animals, and yards...BUT....I will not deal with dead things or taking out the trash. That's where I draw the line. So I asked Dustin if he would deal with the turkey first thing in the morning and he said he would. I hated to leave the body lying out there all night but our LGD Emma keeps the coyotes at bay and there wasn't any further damage that could be done anyways.

The next morning we had another barrel race so I hustled out at the crack of dawn to feed chickens, bottle feed the baby goats, take care of the rabbits, and do horse chores before loading up the trailer. I got a bucket of chicken feed and looked out across the field. My poor Yosemite. Then, I squinted my eyes. Had he moved? No. Damn, I really didn't get enough sleep last night. Then another twitch.

"Dustin!"

I yelled his name with considerable force and he came running out of the carriage barn. I pointed, "That turkey is alive!"

His face saddened and I could tell he was thinking that I was nuts. And it was sad. He shook his head, turning to look at the same time.

The turkey lifted his head and flapped a wing at us.

"Whoop!"

Dustin and I started jogging across the field and when we got to him, Yosemite Sam calmly stood up and walked to the house, dragging a wing but other wise fine. We are still amazed.

Two days prior to that, my eldest son (15) rolled our family vehicle. Walked away without a scratch, bump, bruise, or chipped fingernail. It was also amazing.

My husband went to pick up our pigs from a farm where they were being bred. Its about 30 miles away. He was hauling them in a two horse trailer. He only arrived home with one pig, instead of two. One of our hugely fat pigs threw herself up and over the back doors of the trailer. Are you kidding me?

I was upset.

"Sweetheart," I say, very quietly, "don't come home without my pig."

I was worried for Thelma. What would Louise do without her? The sister were incredibly close and I was worried that when he found the pig, she would be dead or need to be put down.

A few hours later, as it is getting dark, Dustin called. "I'm bringing you home one road-rashed pig."

She was alive! And, really, not badly hurt. Apparently, she was hiding in some trees. Dustin thought he saw something and stopped the truck, stepped out and called her name. She flew out of the trees, squealing for joy and rubbed her snout all over his jeans, so happy to see him. She jumped right in the trailer and rode quietly all the way home. He was right. She has a bit of road rash and she's sore but that's all. Amazing.

I sure do hope this was a theme-of-the-week and not a theme-of-the-year type of thing. CATASTROPHE...buuuuuttttt, it will be okay in the end. HEART ATTACK....bbuuuuuttt, it'll all be fine.

Oy.

2011 Pretty Prairie Rodeo

It was a long and wonderful week.

We got to see some good friends, have some fun on the horses, and see some great entertainment. The main rodeo clown again this year was Kieth Isley, who is phenomenal, and my youngest son was completely enthralled. Kieth has a palomino horse that he rides and performs tricks with. They are partners in every sense of the word.

Sometimes he rides with no halter or bridle; it's nothing but him and the horse. A few nights he rode with a halter and lead rope. I never saw him bridle the horse or saw the horse resist in any way. He was fat, sassy, impeccably groomed, and completely happy. It was awesome to see that level of partnership in a performing horse.

I say that because I saw many horse/rider relationships this weekend that were absolutely NOT a partnership. I hate to say this because I love the barrel racing but the most common offenders that I saw was the ladies. I saw more than one horse have a whip laid on it for turning too sharp, turning too wide, or not listening at the turn itself. There was one girl whom I would have love to pull off her horse and use the spurs, that she so maliciously dug into her horse's sides, on her.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am not saying that discipline doesn't have it's place. I'm a big fan of respect in all forms, discipline, positive reinforcement, and just plain good training. However. These girls weren't correcting their horses. They were getting pissed off and reacting. No type of correction or training should leave welts or open cuts on your horse.

There were some barrel racers that went into the arena like Satan was on their tails, turned the cans, and blew back past the line...and their horse shut down, prancing a little, blowing hard, but with an arched neck and shining eyes, getting a pat on the shoulder and soft hands on the reins. These were well trained horses, horses with whom the riders had spent time and shown dedication to, horses that loved their job and their rider. That is a partnership.

Interestingly enough, the most consideration that I saw came from the ropers and bulldoggers. Possibly because when they messed up it was either their own fault or they got a screwy steer. I'm not sure of the reason but I saw more affectionate pats and scratches, gentle handling, and eager, happy horses with the men than I did with the ladies. Which kind of threw me for a loop.

Aren't we women supposed to be the kinder, gentler sex? The ones with soft voices, soft hands, and patience. The ones who are tough as nails with a heart of gold. Maybe it's because, as females, we all have a little bit of a mean streak that manifests itself in different ways. While for one girl it was sawing on the reins until her horse's jaw gaped and its eyes showed white and it plunged in a desperate effort to evade the spurs digging into it's belly - for me, the mean streak comes out when I see that and fervently hope that his rider gets a nasty venereal disease and her hair falls out.

*Sigh.*

Anyways, now that I am done on my high horse, how about some pics of rodeo week?

Funny how things work....

So many things have changed for us in the last year. We have gotten goats, sheep, and our little flock of chickens hatched out a small brood of five baby chicks this spring. We now have two baby Red Bourbon turkeys added to the flock, a small Jersey steer named T-bone, and a baby goat that was born here named Ruby.

If any of you have bottle fed six lambs and one goat at the same time you are milking two goats, taking care of the chickens, five dogs, seventeen horses, a cow, and a donkey in the dead of winter with the help of two kids who are in sports and school then you probably know why this blog slipped my mind the way it did. Not to mention the little things like laundry and household stuff that never ceases!

Perhaps the biggest change, and also the biggest surprise, is the fact that we are expecting a baby in October. After years of trying, being told we couldn't have any more children, and finally giving up, we learned in the spring that we will be welcoming a new addition in the fall. We were floored and still kind of are, lol. Our last sonogram revealed that we will be giving our sons a younger brother.

Because my pregnancy has been labeled as high risk, I had to cut down on my work load immediately. Of course this meant no more riding broncs, aka training colts, for the year. I have cut down on lessons as well and am not doing guided trail rides at all. At the end of this month the docs and my lovely husband are kicking me off of horses altogether. Since I found out that I was pregnant I have been restricted from riding any horse but my own mare, Luna.

It was a difficult decision but we decided to halt our rescue program for this time. You all know that we do this privately, with no outside funding, and we manage all of the training and work ourselves. With the pregnancy being risky and me being unable to train, which is the majority of my income, we felt that it would be in the best interest of our family and our current stock if we did not accept any more rescues at this time.

We still have a few that were already here when we found out and we have taken on another project in the form of a mini mule with a broken shoulder. He technically belongs to one of our boarders, however, he has become something of a mascot and it's a pleasure to see him healing a little every day.

We have cut down to just the basic herd for awhile. I laugh when I say that because the herd list is as follows: Raven, Kiowa, Rupert, Stormy, Eeyore, Captain, Badger, Splash, Cash, Luna, Tia, Wildfire, Caffodyl, and Justice.

Now three of those board here so that leaves us with eleven of our own. Wildfire is a mustang rescue and is 100% certifiable. She will never be ridden or trained. She is dangerous when she feels cornered (not in the sense that she becomes aggressive, she just kinda looses her marbles and panics). All of the others beside Stormy and Justice, who are too young, are rideable, working, contributing members of our farm.

The dilema was whether to sell a few and replace them in the spring or to hold on to the ones I have and muddle through until the spring when I can go back to work. You guys know the answer to that! I have the best herd anyone could ask for. After years of doing rescue, buying and selling, training, etc. I have found the horses that I want. They are irreplaceable.

Now, if it would only rain.

The pasture is crunchy. We are trying to stock up for winter and cannot find hay for sale. We'll make it; we always do. The upcoming winter looks rather lean though. We will have the baby, the kids school events, Thanksgiving, Christmas....and tons of hay to find and buy. Oy. Lol, well, we like a challenge!

I'm not dead....

I'm just really, really busy. After receiving a couple of concerned emails I realized that people do actually read my blog; it is not for my entertainment alone! Yaaay! Lol.

I'm sorry to be such a flake, people. My life has taken on a life of it's own and I am merely the chauffeur. Rest assured that everything is fine, all the horses are fat and happy, the goats are still here, the cats and dogs and chickens are all still alive and well (for the moment!). Oh, and the humans that just happen to live here are doing well too. I will be back soon with a good blog entry complete with pictures! I promise!

Ok, maybe "promise" is too strong a word....lol.

First, a few updated pictures of Jack - the rescued Appy colt. He is doing so much better! So much better, in fact, that he was turned out to pasture yesterday. The front pasture houses only boys so he went out there and fit right in.

As, you can see, the wound on his leg is nearly gone! We are really happy with how it has healed.

A few other updates...we finally got the chicken coop/corral finished. We have 7 hens and a rooster. We are pretty excited about it too, lol. We are also up to 6 goats now. And yes, of course I have picture proof. :)

The goats : Alice, Sissy, Gladys, Max, Cammo, and Ginger.

Bebe is doing ok with her training. We had corrected the head tossing issue in the round pen so I decided to take her out on her first trail ride yesterday. We didn't get very far away before she started head tossing again. Before we had gone a mile she had reared twice. She tossed her head the entire way home and I barely even touched the reins. We are going to re-evaluate her in a bitless bridle or a hackamore and see if that improves anything. Right now, I am betting that it won't - I believe this to be a behavioral issue. I want to err on the side of caution though so we are going to rule out and mouth/teeth problems before I begin to aggressively train away the head tossing.

Jethro the Fox Trotter is doing wonderfully! His owner has been out the past two weekends and last night got on and went for a mile and a half little ride down the road and back. He did great for her! He also did great when Bebe was being a giant pain in the butt, lol. Dustin rode him for the first time yesterday. He had never ridden a gaited horse before. He wasn't convinced until I told him to bump ol' Jethro up into a trot. He did and his whole face lit up. It is smooth as butter and twice as nice.

Buster has gotten in the trailer a few times now. The next step will be shutting the door. Hopefully we can do that this week. He is being saddled now and worked in the round pen. We have started ground driving him, sacking him out, and getting him ready for his first ride.

More updates to come!

Bebe Breakthough and a few other updates

Ugh. It is so windy. Yes, I know that Kansas is indeed the wrong state to live in if you hate the wind. I still gripe about it though.

It has been a fast paced last few weeks around here. We currently have three horses in for training, I am working with three of our rescues (getting them ready to adopt out), and we have had no less than several family obligations and emergencies arise. Thus, my whole resolve of posting a blog a week was shot to hell.

Eh. Rules were made to be broken, right?

Bebe is doing very well. She's three years old. When she came in she was a bit spoiled and a lot head strong. We had only done a little bit of work with her when she rubbed her head on the side of her shelter and tore the tin siding, exposing a jagged edge, and like all horses was accident prone enough to get cut on it. She was off of work for a few days. When we began again it was with a different tactic in mind.

See, up to this point I had treated her like any other green filly that comes in. Problem is, Bebe is not just any other filly. Besides, she has pretty darned good ground manners (aside from being a little pushy) and her ground work was really done well. She had even been ridden by a friend of her owner around a small paddock.

When I started her, I explored what she knew, which was quite a lot actually, and then I began to test the edges of her comfort zone. That is when things began to get a little hairy. She doesn't like for me to push her at all. Or ask her for a different direction. Or ask her to walk the rail instead of the middle of the round pen. She bobs her head and sulks. She drags her feet, stirring up dust, moping around the edge of the round pen at a mosey. Or, if she feels like it, she pouts and flounces. Lol. She sure does have a lot of personality. I love it.

So after having her here for 4 weeks now I have developed a different strategy just for Bebe; a step two. I don't react to her behavior. I sit and quietly ask until she does it. If she pouts or sulks she gets to trot or do circles. It seems to be working. Since I have started disciplining her for bad behavior through work she has really begun to blossom. The first few days were a trial but this morning was really nice. She did everything I asked and we barely had any behavior at all.

I think we've had a breakthrough.

Jethro the Fox Trotter is doing very well and responding nicely to his training. He is learning to "frame up" and carry himself in a more efficient way as well as learning to respect space and distance. Buster the solid black paint gelding is doing well also. It took his owners three days to get him into a trailer to come here, so we have made trailer training a priority. So far it is going very well. He's a smart cookie.

I will try to post more as soon as I can! Have a wonderful Labor Day!

Rescue Update and Bebe Report

A Rescue Update :

The two little Appaloosa yearlings are doing well. The filly, who we named Grania (Gron-ya meaning Grace in Gaelic) has been wormed, gotten a negative preg test, and is turned out with the rest of the herd. All of her minor scratches and cuts healed with no trouble. She is haltering and leading well.

The little colt we decided to call Jack. He is still dealing with his wound which has healed so much that I would never have believed that it looked as bad as it did if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. We went through a troubling first few days where Jack was rather listless and picked at his food, not really eating well and just generally depressed. We put him in the same corral with the crippled calf, Gimp, and the changes were immediate. He began eating and drinking and was more bright eyed than I had seen him since his arrival. You can see in this pic he has a lot less bones showing than he did when he came in and the wound is doing nicely.

He has really gentled down and is able to halter and lead without issue. So, the other night, I decided to give him a hoof trim. He wasn't terrible but he needed some attention. I brought him out and with a lot of time and patience was able to get his left front trimmed. About that time, Dustin came out of the house and we started talking. I absentmindedly tapped Jack on the hip with my fingers, asking him to move over, when WHAM! The ungrateful little snot nailed me.

He kicked me right in the side of my knee, the same knee that I tore all of the tendons and ligaments in 5 years ago. Yaaaay. So Dustin helped me to the ground, where I sat and breathed like I was trying to give birth for about five minutes. I could barely bear weight at all on that leg but with Dustin's help I limped up to the house and elevated the knee. Cody brought me an ice pack.

I will live, but sloooowly. Lol. The swelling has gone down some and I hope to be able to get back in the round pen by this evening. Dustin has worked Bebe (the pally paint) in the round pen twice for me and I am starting to get jealous.

Her first session was no big deal. He simply asked her to move, change direction, stop, etc. while using his body to steer her movements. She is very responsive and got exactly what he was trying to tell her in just a few moves. The second session she was tacked up and then did more round pen work. This evening we are going to elaborate on that and ask for more. I want to find the boundaries of her knowledge, her comfort zone, so that I know where she needs work.

We put up the side walls on the shelter in pens #3 and #4 on Saturday. She got to see the tin being dragged around, hear the saw and the hammering, put up with my singing....she should be immune to just about anything now. :)